How to make a digital flipbook

by Bill White 2 years ago

How to make a digital flipbook

Digital flipbook is an interactive format for showcasing print documents, such as brochures, magazines, newspapers, and many others. This type of data can be found everywhere on the web, under the form of a photo presentation showing the products from a certain manufacturer, a gallery displaying an artist's work, etc. The greatest aspect of flip books is that they can be previewed from almost any type of computer or media gadget. You can use your default web browser to check it out, there's no need to install additional third-party tools on your PC or media device.

In a previous article, I showed you how to create and edit EPUB files, a type of document that's pretty similar to flip books. Now, I will teach you how to create a flipbook directly from your Windows PC. This task can easily be completed with the help of an online service or a desktop utility.

Tutorial assets

You will need to download the following software to follow along with this tutorial.

Using A Desktop Utility

You can find various flip book making programs on the web, each with its own set of editing tools and price rates. I'm not sure if FLIPHTML5 is the best there is, but, out of all of the flip book creators I tested on my PC, it's one of the most feature-rich desktop tools of its kind. For example, it provides you with an auto-flipping mode (available when publishing the project; the pages are flipped without clicking on the mouse or keyboard), the ability to publish your work directly from its interface, various editing options, etc.

On the homepage of the developer, you will find several subscription plans, each with its own list of advantages. Still, you can use the program for free as long as you don't need it to export your flipbooks to your local folders and you just want the tool to publish the projects on the web. You can always upgrade the free version of the utility if you want to unlock additional features.

Here's what you need to do in order to create a digital flipbook with FLIPHTML5:

Step 1

Launch the program on your PC. Import the document you want to transform into a flip book. The utility supports the following formats: PDF, TXT, and RTF.

Step 2

Step 3

An Editor window will then be displayed on your screen. Make the necessary project adjustments and publish or export your flip book. The number of available editing options will depend on the type of subscription plan you chose from the homepage of the developer. The more features you require (editing, exporting, etc.), the more money you will need to spend. A subscription plan can go from $15 per month to a whopping $999 price rate for an ENTERPRISE edition. So, it might get pretty expensive to use this flip book maker if you require most of its features. Still, many tools like FLIPHTML5 are pricey.

Using Online Services

This method is perfect if you don't plan on creating flip books often. As I mentioned before, the acquiring prices for most flip bookmakers are quite high. Using an online service like the one that's being offered by the Coding Focus company is way cheaper. Here's what you need to do:

Step 1

Step 2

You will get access to a URL that will take you to your converted flip book and admin page. You can share or embed the flip book anywhere you like. For a certain price, you can download the flip book to your local directories. Unlike the aforementioned desktop solution, the price is very reasonable.

Conclusion

Clearly, it's very simple to create flip books on Windows PCs. The question is: which of the aforementioned solutions will you choose? Let us know in the comments section below.